“So what happens when your prime candidate lies to you?  I am not talking about some modest little fibs here  but some outright whoppers that when detected leave you twisting in the wind.   As a recruiter, this doesn’t bode well for your relationships with different clients.   Most prefer to know the goods are genuine authentic, not some counterfeit designer.”   Here is the link to the article: http://www.recruitingblogs.com/profiles/blogs/when-your-prime-recruiting-candidate-lies-to-you-1?xg_source=msg_mod_comment

While employers have long conducted education verification checks on their employment candidates, it appears that increasingly more staffing and recruiting groups are being made responsible for conducting this and other background checks as part of the employment screening process.

Education history, of course, outside of criminal records, is one of the more significant searches.   For many positions,  education is not just a prerequisite but also vital to employment candidate’s incumbent skill sets and the legitimacy they bring to the job. Those employment recruits who claim to but who do not possess the required skills can cause untold embarrassment to employer or recruiter alike.  Both can lose clients over it, and in the extreme cases incur law suits.   Read the whole article at:  http://www.recruitingblogs.com/profiles/blogs/the-process-and-pitfalls-of

FORBESWOMAN

Image via Wikipedia

Yahoo reported yesterday that starting tomorrow, more than 10,000 baby boomers a day will turn 65, a pattern that will continue for the next 19 years.”

That is not good news.

We boomers are not our parents’ retirees. We are not thinking Carnival Cruise Lines (CCL) or scrap booking at Vail (MTN) while our grandchildren learn to ski.

We are thinking unemployment, foreclosure, and bankruptcy.  We are wondering where the money for our Plavix (SNY) will come from.

Women Particularly Hard Hit

For those women who have spent their lifetimes in jobs, the retirement outlook is particularly bleak with long-term job prospects worsening.

Economics professor and investment advisor, Douglas Rice, citing the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics for the over-55 set, says that the employment scene appears to be better for women (6.2%) than for men (8.1%). “When you compare unemployment figures for today’s boomer women with their numbers at the beginning of the recession,” says Rice, “the picture is far gloomier.  Only  2.9% of women over 55 were unemployed year-end 2007, so the numbers of boomer women looking for work has doubled since the beginning of the downturn.”

Add to that an average period of unemployment for boomers of nearly one-full year and you have a large and increasingly desperate group of people competing for twenty-first century work, often equipped  with only twentieth century skills.

Absent an improvement in the economy, what can the post-55 woman do to improve her chances to re-enter the job market early in the new year?

Create a Tailored Search!

Brentwood Executive Search strategist  Marcia Basichis suggests that job hunters do what any good negotiator would – learn your potential employers’ interests and tailor your resume to match them. “All job candidates,” says Basichis “should  research companies they would like to work for, thoroughly going over their websites to understand the business.”

Instead of focusing on the past – the  dead-weight contained in most resumes -Basichis recommends looking to the future by writing potential employers letters explaining  how your existing skills, education and experience can benefit the company you wish to join.

“Dont overstate,” says Basichis, “but craft your resume in a manner that makes your experience most closely match the specific job you seek.”

As Canadian attorney Michael Webster adds to my post on interest-based negotiation, there are only two questions you need to ask yourself to radically increase your chances of winning the coveted job you seek. First, ask what you would do if you and your potential employer were one person instead of two. Second, ask how you might credibly signal what both parties would need to do to achieve that goal.

You can see the full article by clicking on the attached link from Forbes Magazine.

Anyway. The Yahoo article is informative.

John Zappe on ERE.Net wrote an interesting article, entitled  Consumer Confidence Improves But Job Numbers are Hard to Predict.   Are they ever?   Depending on who you talk to, where they live,the prognosis for the job market various widely.   It may stink in California and Nevada but show signs of life in the Houston and Atlanta.   Some of the Mid-West and Plains States have companies are hiring, but some of the more traditional industrial areas are having their troubles.

As Zappe writes, indicators are that for August 110,000 jobs were lost, but most of them through the continued layoff of Census Workers.  I July, some 71,000 private sector jobs were created.  I think this is the job sector that counts the most.   Zappe points to the ADP National Employment Report.  The Report is usually more conservative than the government’s and usually reports lower job figures.

Here is the synopsis of the ADP National Employment Report for August–The ADP National Employment Report

August 2010 Report

“Private sector employment decreased by 10,000 from July to August on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the latest ADP National Employment Report® released today. The estimated change of employment from June to July was revised down slightly, from the previously reported increase of 42,000 to an increase of 37,000. The decline in private employment in August confirms a pause in the recovery already evident in other economic data. The deceleration in employment was evident in the major sectors and by size of business. This month’s decline in employment followed six monthly increases from February through July. Over those six months the average monthly gain in employment was 37,000 with no evidence of acceleration.”

In the shorthand, the report indicates that the economic recovery may be slowing down.  Maybe.  But again there are sections of the country where factories are up and recruiting if not brisk is steady.   As for small businesses who are having trouble borrowing money to hire new workers and to upgrade equipment and such, it would be nice if someone could make available some funding.  It would be nice to see the small businesses of America hiring people again.   That more than anything would go a long way toward an economic recovery.

For those who conduct background checks for various businesses throughout the United States, they see companies are hiring.   While some clients are still pretty quiet, there are others who are moving forward and have intensive recruiting campaigns in operation.  In some cases there are companies who have been making do with skeleton staffs in order to survive, and now with their employees exhausted the employers see it as necessary to bring in additional staff.

Zappe points out that the job sites are posting more jobs that are available.  That should signify something.   But for now it is tough to say what is really going on.   If there is any conclusion that borders on the absolute…it is that there is at this time no real accurate way to predict which way the job market is going.   Everyday is a new adventure.e  Employers hope to survive, and employees hope to keep their jobs.  Or find one.

Looking for work. According to an article in the New York Times, then maybe you should be looking in China.  At least if you are a CEO or a “C” level executive.   This move is considered a reflection on the Communist Party’s unhappiness with the performance of some of the larger companies in China.

According to the times article the ad was looking to recruit candidates  for 20 senior management jobs in industries ranging from nuclear power to automotive and textiles. While some of the positions were restricted to Chinese nationals,  some of the ads were designed to solicit foreign applicants.    Several required proficiency in foreign languages like English and French.

There were also recruitment ads for junior executives.  These postings were for positions in mining, communications, construction, nuclear power and shipping.   The advertisement stated that the candidates are expected to “serve the reform and development of the S.O.E.s,” or state-owned enterprises, according to the Times.

The Internet biosphere erupted with various comments, not all flattering.   There were remarks about nepotism and how it is prominent in Chinese industrial culture.

Is this a trend or merely an occasional recruiting campaign?   It is difficult to say at this point.